Rodney Earl Reagan

Rodney Reagan was born in Real County Texas to J B and Annie (Terry) Reagan on May 1, 1926. His older brother, J B Junior, also welcomed him. He worked with his family raising Angora goats. He also found time to sneak off with his buddy Luther Bushong to go skinny dipping in Cypress Creek. He was always balancing hard work and his fascination with the world around him. He once slipped away from his mother at a fair in Uvalde and managed to secure a ride in a J-3 Piper Cub airplane-- And fell in love with flight. He attended and graduated from Leakey ISD High School where he claimed he spent most of his time robbing bees for honey. He tried to enlist in the Army Air Corp to become a pilot, but in 1944 pilot training was limited. So, when he was drafted, he signed up for the Navy Submarine Service. After Sub School he served in the Philippines until the end of the war.

Returning to Leakey, he met and married the love of his life, Deloise Moffett, on May 29, 1948 in a double wedding with their best friends, Carl Chisum and Feleta Crider. With his new bride, he began his adventures in farming. In Real County, he hand-dug irrigation wells and grew tomatoes, watermelons, cotton and ran cattle. Scott, then Kelly, were born in the years he farmed a rented place in Rio Frio.

Then in 1959, with Kelly one year old and Deloise in tears, he bought a farm in Knippa. “Knippa!, she thought, “No rivers, no hills! The farm was heavily terraced and had a very large chicken house on it. Fortunately, they didn’t live in the chicken house. Deloise did have some control over Rodney. They built a house, leveled the terraces, drilled wells on that place for 16 years. There were other Reagans in Knippa. Among them his brother JB Jr. He and his brother helped each other build houses, loaned equipment and started dairies. They were members of Knippa Church of Christ and Rodney was a member of Knippa’s School Board. He worked hard at all of this, but he loved it. He never really did anything he didn’t love. He and Deloise developed close friends they traveled with; and enjoyed fishing, hunting, snow skiing. They also played a lot of 42 dominoes and developed an enduring deep friendship with Bob and Carolyn Reagan and Eddie and Sofie Falkenberg.

He also became one of Uvalde County’s water warriors. This was a group of men who set out to stop San Antonio from restricting what had become of the lifeblood of agriculture in the area: Edwards Underground Aquifer water. He and Leslie Pepper, Maurice Rimkus, Charlie Griffin and others manned a decades long resistance to losing the rights to that precious water.

After 16 years in Knippa, my mother was again horrified to learn Rodney wanted to sell the farm in Knippa and use the money to buy more farm equipment to farm more land. Rodney and Deloise moved to Uvalde. He farmed land leased from Briscoe Ranch and later in partnership with Dolph Briscoe. Rodney continued to work for many years for Uvalde County water rights and property rights. He served on the Edwards Underground Water District Board for almost 20 years. He then served on the Uvalde County Conservation District. He was elected a Uvalde County Commissioner and named Uvaldean of the Year in 1996. He also was flying for the civil air patrol. He still loved flying.

Papa was truly a man who lived his faith in God. He often began sentences, “The Lord willing …” He showed his sincere love to his children, their spouses and grandchildren each and every day. Young at heart, he enjoyed walking up and finding an arrowhead in the dirt in 2 minutes when we had looked for an hour. He could make a ‘mean’ pan of fudge (and eat most of it)! His sweet tooth was immeasurable. He enjoyed hunting and fishing and tinkering with any mechanical piece of equipment on the face of the earth. He could also fix most of them. He loved to raise cattle and farm. If he couldn’t farm, he just wanted to at least be mowing the grass. As the years progressed and his appetite for risk decreased he happily became an employee of Briscoe Ranch raising beef.

A sincere Thank You goes to Briscoe Ranch and Oasis Outback Restaurant, where Papa and Nana ate most of their meals in the latter years, and were treated so well by each and every staff member. Also the wonderful staff at his last residence, 214 Martin Street, where he had the very best care and Uvalde Hospice who were so kind for the short while they watched over Rodney.

He is preceded in death by his parents, brother J B. and wife of 77 years, Deloise. Also, two sister-in-laws, and one brother-in-law. He is survived by his sons and their wives: Scott and Laurie L., Kelly and Tammy N., and grandchildren and their spouses: William and Melissa B, Jenny and Brian P Herzig, Brian C. and partner Julia L., and Matthew Reagan. Also surviving Papa are four nieces, a nephew, and their spouses and children.

A funeral service will be held Saturday, Oct. 04, at 10 a.m. at  Church of Christ, 125 E. Garden St., Uvalde. Visitation is at 9 a.m. Burial will be at 2:00 p.m. in Leakey Floral Cemetery under the direction of Rushing Estes Knowles Funeral Mortuary. 

Pallbearers will be his grandchildren and nephews. William Reagan, Mathew Reagan, Brian Reagan, Jenny Reagan, Brian Herzig and Kenny Haines.

Honorary Pallbearers are Chip Briscoe, Bob Reagan, Danny Rimkus, Van McElroy, Bobby Shakelford, Terry Jones, Will Moffett, Ted Sanderlin and Danny McFadden.